The Year After
by runetheoncegreat
Summary: I do not own any trademarks or brands in this story (Credit to whomever deserves for the cover art) Chapters 1-9 have been revamped and Chapter 10 added onto


**Prologue**

A man tied to a chair awoke sluggishly. He thought he couldn't see. He realized slowly as he felt a sort of anesthesia wearing off, that the lights were dimmed to simulate moonlight. The room seemingly had no end. His head tumbled to the side and looked forward into a blurry mess of white, grey, and black. "Aah, you're finally awake!" said a crackling voice. The man, still disoriented, now realized that the voice came from a static screen. The screen became clear. Or as clear as it can get for an old black and white twenty three inch television. The man saw a being appear on the screen. It wore a black tuxedo and a white pumpkin with antlers piercing through it. "You may call me the Author, my dear listener. Since no one has gone so far as to even glance at my book, I have taken the liberty of letting you listen to me read it. Then you can go out and tell everyone about how fantastic it is!" "What? What are you talking about you creep! Where am I?" The being on the screen ignores the comment and begins to speak, shaking it's head "Naughty, naughty!" a shock erupts through the listener's body, stunning him, leaving him in a lump in his chair. "You can't listen if you can't hear!" The Author reads aloud the story in a hypnotic voice, that would put even the most caffeinated and energetic person asleep. "Prologue. The year is Twenty One Fifty. A war has happened. The Nuclear War. It devastated not just cities, but countries. It left any of its survivors displaced and separated from one another, besides the determined few who remain together. An apocalyptic winter has raged on for the past year. In this era of the world, the storm has been dubbed by any remaining sources of media as The Year After."

**Chapter 1: Breaking Ice**

The night is all but calm and peaceful. A blizzard has blown into a campsite near a section of highway just outside of a supposedly abandoned New York City. The sound of a zipper being opened is heard throughout the night despite the raging snow. The sound is coming from an orange tent. A man pokes his head out of the a neon yellow tent and glances around. He quickly crawls out of the tent on his stomach. He flips around and rezips it, still on his belly. The man is wearing a maroon colored artic monkey suit. He is also wearing an orange toboggan and gold colored snowboarder ionized goggles. After rezipping the tent, he stands up and looks down, fumbling his gloved hand into his pockets.

He eventually retrieved a small, brownish orange jar with a white label all the way around it, marked with red and yellow stripes and black text stating "Saphris." The container was empty. The man looked around and returned the bottle to his pocket. He looked around one more time, snow accumulating on his suit. He started walking along a trail, passing other tents. Some tents had lights on inside, being emanated from lanterns hung on mesh-fiber hooks built into the tents. He continued walking, looking over to his left to see the abandoned section of Highway 11-E. He saw many vehicles ranging from cars, trucks, and vans. All the sorts. At one point, he passed a school bus with a sign saying "Labor-n-Love for Food." The bus was now being used as a sort of restaurant that requires volunteer work to be served food from what the man had heard since the place was fairly new.

He walked on the trail until reaching a large, lime green colored tent, easily the size of one of those short buses. He patted on the door of the tent, making it visibly shake. A voice from inside is heard groggily stating "God, who is awake at this hour? Come in!" The man zipped open the door and stepped inside, throwing snow off his body onto the inside of the tent, rezipping it behind himself. "Chris! I just cleaned this tent before I fell asleep! Either way, what do you want?" said the voice. Chris lifted his goggles up over his head and onto his toboggan and lowered the facemask section of his monkey suit. Chris is a light-skinned man of African origin with short, shaggy hair and a thin beard. "I need my next prescription of Saphris, Captain" said Chris. "Dang it, Chris! At this hour!? I told you about this. Besides, we're out." "What? What do you mean we're out?" blurted out Chris angrily. "That means we have no more, Chris." replied the Captain calmly and sarcastically. Howling of a strange form is heard in the distance. "And keep your voice down, Chris" "Ugh, when's the next shipment gonna be in?" sighed Chris with rage. "Not soon, that's all I can say, the Supplies Men can't get it out to us any time soon. The storm has tightened her grip around this area. I'm sorry, Chris" said the Captain. Chris looked down and sighed again, this time with sadness and worry instead of anger. "I'll try to keep myself under control, Captain." "Good, now please, go and get some ACTUAL sleep, Chris!" Chris nodded, and turned around, unzipping the door and stepping out, rezipping it behind himself.

Chris walked along the trail, looking down at his feet with worry. The snow fall had increased within the time frame of five minutes. The bizarre howling sounded off once more, closer this time. He would sprint back to his tent if this wouldn't attract the monsters.

Out of the blue, a yellow flash and a loud bang rung out through the night. A quiet, crunchy thud is heard as a body falls to the ground. The body belongs to that of Chris. Quietly, footsteps approach Chris's unmoving body. "So, your Chris. I would've liked to meet ya. I heard you told great stories."

**Chapter 2: The Year After That**

A man on a motorcycle zooms past, kicking up dust and dirt in every direction, and then leaving it behind. The motorcycle is a 1970s Harley-Davidson with a motorcycle camper trailer, both had been colored black with flame decals on its sides. It also has ape hangers, which are handles that have been raised to were you literally have to stretch out to reach them. The landscape is barren. A desert surrounds the road for tens of hundreds of miles. Barely a cactus or tumbleweed every few miles. The motorcycle speeds along until it reaches a parking lot of a small retail store with a handmade sign stating "Goods for barter". The store had a pale yellow color on the exterior walls. The motorcycle pulled into the lot and stopped. The person riding the bike pushed down the kickstand and got off. The man removed his helmet, which was also black with flame decals, and throws it onto the right side handle. The person was a tall, skinny caucasian male wearing a dirty green cloth trench coat with rips and holes in the skirt of the bottom. It seemed to be of World War 2 era. He also wore a black T-shirt displaying a silver Superman symbol, blue worn-out cargo pants and dust covered blue sneakers.

"HEY, MUTT!" the man yelled at the store. A crash and breaking of glass is heard from inside. The door is busted open as another man wearing a tuxedo designed to look like molten magma and a red mask that covered all but his eyes and the top of his nose busts through the door with a double-barrel shotgun. The motorist holds his hands up in a surrendering position. "Karl….I swear...Don't do that!" exclaimed the store man. "Well, It's kinda funny and I can't stop myself, Mutt" said Karl. Mutt was a Caucasian. His eyes were a dingy yellow, but they had no pupils. Or at least his pupils were the same color as his eyes. Mutt lowered the shotgun and nodded, lighting a cigarette "So, what ya got there, kid?" "Oh, the usual, you know, Atom Kicks, Ammo, Money…..A Fusion Core" said Karl with a smile.

Mutt's jaw dropped and the cigarette fell to the ground. "Bring that here," said Mutt as Karl turned around to retrieve the Core. "Is it real? How much charge has it got?" asked Mutt as he gawked in awe at the Core. The Core looked like a D-size battery, but double in length. It was silver in color and had a red bar on the side that indicted the charge. "It has at least eighty-five percent. And yes, it is real," said Karl. Mutt grabbed Karl's elbow and almost dragged him into the store, Core in hand. Mutt pushed Karl inside and turned around and worked so fast at the locks that Mutt was already at the third one in a flash. Mutt walked past Karl and flipped an open sign around to the closed side, pulling down the shutters and turning them so no one could see inside from the outside. Mutt walked past and around Karl to get behind the counter of the store. The counter had, of course, a cash register. But, it also had on it a blue and black handled sledgehammer.

Mutt bent over to his right slightly, putting his right hand under the counter and then looked at Karl. "I bet I'm scarin' ya, ain't I?" asked Mutt. "Kinda, I guess" replied Karl, shrugging his shoulders. Mutt narrowed his eyes and pressed something under the counter. A subtle crash came from behind Mutt. Karl looked over and behind Mutt's shoulder. Behind him was a hatch that led down. Down into darkness. Mutt stared at Karl for a few seconds and then turned around to the hatch. He stepped down and said "Come, you need to see what I found." Karl walked around the counter and started to descend after Mutt. It was pitch black down in there. "Mutt?" Karl called out. Karl felt that the stairs were gone, the floor was flat now. It was cold, easily forty degrees Fahrenheit. Suddenly, the lights flickered into existence. Mutt was leaning on the far wall, next to a lever. Mutt threw his head to his right, as if pointing with it. Karl looked over and was in awe. "A set of power armor!? How!?" asked Karl with intrigue. The armor was rusted in and around the joints and in several different places. The unrusted pieces on the armor were the color grey. "Yeah, it's TI-45 armor. I found it out near one of the abandoned mineshafts. I've been fixin' it up." replied Mutt, rubbing his left hand's index finger and thumb together. Karl started to walk towards it "It still needs some parts, including a Core. Now, what you want for the core?" Karl didn't reply and instead brushed his fingertips over the left shoulder pad of the armor. "Karl?" asked Mutt worryingly. "Oh, sorry, Mutt. I've just… never seen a set of power armor up close before. Especially one that wasn't trying to turn me into ground beef!" said Karl, chuckling at his joke "I'll take... uhh….How much is a core worth?" "A lot. Oh, let's see….If I give you.." Mutt started mumbling to himself, staring at the ceiling, and apparently calculating how much a fusion core would be worth.

Karl looked around at the room. There were three tables, one on either side of the small room, and the last one in the middle. The middle table had the right arm piece of the armor on it. The arm piece was in shambles. Plates of armor here and there, screws and bolts scattered all over the table. Karl looked over at the table on the left wall behind him. It had a red, rusted toolbox. The toolbox was open, exposing its contents. It held several rusted tools such as a wrench and a hammer. Karl turned back around to face Mutt just when he finished calculating. "Well, that'll be...oh… seventeen cartridges of twenty gauge shells, twenty-one Uzi clips, and nine hundred and seventeen dollars!" said Mutt with a smile. "Woah! That's a lot, dude. Are you sure about this deal?" asked Karl with a worried look. "Nah, man, it's all good. If it gets me one step closer to completing my power armor, then it's very well worth it." said Mutt with a smirk. Karl smirked shyly and nodded. Suddenly, a loud banging from upstairs was heard. A faint voice with an Indian accent yelled out "MUTT, I KNOW YOU'RE IN THERE! NOW, POP OUT AND SHOW ME THOSE UGLY YELLOW EYES!"

**Chapter 3: The Christening of the Armor**

Mutt and Karl looked at each other. Mutt darted towards his armor. Karl realized what he was about to do and said "MUTT, CATCH!" throwing the core at Mutt. Mutt caught it and slammed the battery into its slot on the suit. "Karl, quickly, help me attach that arm piece." Karl ran towards the table with the arm piece and snatched it up. He then hurried towards Mutt and helped him attach the arm piece to the rest of the suit. Mutt looked back at Karl and sighed "Here goes nothing." Mutt twisted the valve on the back plate of the armor and the suit popped open with the scratching sound of rust and metal versus itself. He climbed inside and the suit closed around him with the same noise as before. Suddenly, the armor stood up straight and turned to look over its shoulder. It then turned all the way around to face Karl. "Get a gun, we're going to war," stated the scratchy microphone voice of Mutt. Mutt charged upstairs shortly followed by Karl who stated: "BUT ALL MY GUNS ARE IN MY TRAILER!"

When Karl reached the top of the stairs, he saw Mutt charge through the store's door, breaking every lock and part of the wall, like it wasn't even there. "Whoa! I need some of that." thought Karl. He heard screams and gunshots. It wasn't just one man. There were at least five, maybe ten people standing outside of that shop. Karl glanced over at the back wall of the store, where Mutt had several gun racks. He quickly grabbed a gun off the nearest rack. He quickly realized what he was holding. It was a Laser Pistol. He quickly examined the white rectangle with red marking covering most the box shape. "This'll do some damage" though Karl. He swiftly loaded it as the screams grew faint. Mutt had obliterated easily half of whoever was out there. He ran to the window to get into cover. He peeked over to see Mutt shoulder-charge a guy wearing a red leather jacket, white t-shirt, blue jeans, and red shoes which were velcro oddly enough. The guy was slammed into a blue minivan and apparently knocked unconscious. Mutt was blasting away at the intruders with a full auto rifle, that instead of spitting bullets, spit blue bolts of energy. The bolts burnt through every from human skin to metal

Suddenly, a loud bang and whirring sound sounded off over the gunshots, catching both Karl's and Mutt's attention. The sound got closer at a rapid pace. Then, the loudest BOOM erupted in front of Mutt, who was blocking Karl's view of the explosion. "NOOOOOOOOOOO!" screamed Karl as the deafening sound flooded his ears. He saw the armor pieces fly off the chassis of the suit. The blinding yellow flash burned into his iris. Before it did this though, he saw Mutt's body fly with the shrapnel, debris and dust of the explosion into the front of Mutt's store. Mutt slammed into window that Karl was ducking under. The window cracked, almost shattering underneath Mutt's weight. His body slumped down onto the concrete sidewalk, face down, in front of his store. He quickly rolled over limply. He was badly burned, easily third degree. He had at least three pieces of shrapnel embedded into every section of his body. His clothes are singed and burned, revealing a large portion of his upper chest. He was never the most muscular man.

"HA! HE THOUGHT POWER ARMOR COULD HANDLE A ROCKET!" laughed out one of the still living attackers. In fact, most of it did. The actual frame survived, and pieces of armor still clung to it, though smoldering. The apparent leader of the group, a man of Indian heritage, spoke with an Indian accent said "Alright, boys! We got that wretched mutant! NOW LET'S PACK UP AND GO HOME!" Karl looked out to the right of the window and saw that his things from his motorcycle trailer were being stolen. Karl knew he couldn't fight the men that just killed his friend. Not alone. The Indian man hopped up into the passenger seat of a sandy yellow 1985 Ford F150.

Karl poked his head over the window sill shortly after he heard the pickup pull away, only to see two men, one of which was black skinned, mustached, and muscular, and one woman start to approach the store. Karl lifted the pistol over the sill, aimed at the muscular man and shot. The man screeched in terror and agony as the laser beam expelled from the pistol burnt straight through his left lung and whatever was in front of or behind it. The muscular man fell as he began writhing in pain and then, suddenly, stopped. Afterword, a goatee having tan skinned man took to a police stance as he grabbed a .44 Magnum from its holster on his side. The woman took a crouched position and pulled out a short-barreled Hunting Rifle. Karl took aim once again and this time fired at the woman. But he missed his mark and instead, hit her in the knee. She screamed and fell into a sideways crawl. The other man looked back at her with a worried look and then turned back around to see Karl a little too late. Karl fired once more, hitting the man in the face, turning it into a melting pot. His eyes turned to jelly and his brain melted out of the hole now in his once face. Karl ducked down to hide just in case anybody else was still out there. He peeked over to see the woman still alive.

Karl looked around to see nobody else was around, so he quickly ran out of the store. He swiftly made his way past the man without a face and squatted down next to the severely injured woman. She turned on to her side and, without Karl realizing it, grabbed a shank, lunging it at Karl, who immediately grabbed her wrist and twisted it so the shank would fall out of her hand. The shank fell to the ground with a clank and a thud. Karl kicked it away about fifteen feet or so. The woman looked in terror at the shank as it skidded away from her, and then looked straight into the eyes of Karl. "You're not a mutant..." she trailed off as she looked over at the horizon and then at the ground. Karl looked her dead in the eyes and asked "Why? Why did you come here just to kill my friend Mutt?!"

"We had too. He was a mutant"

"So what? Did he EVER do anything to you!"

"NO! He was a mutant! He had to die! Their kind is planning an insurrection of extreme measures!"

Karl sat back down and thought about what she had said. He couldn't stand this woman's accusations of Mutt and his kind. He raised the laser pistol to her face. He stared down the iron sights for the longest time before closing his eyes and pulling the trigger. He stood back up and started to walk back into the store, now without an owner to maintain its condition.

**Chapter 4: The Trek to Nowhere**

A woman stood atop a small dune overlooking an ever smaller retail store with a small fire and three laid out bodies out front. The woman was of African origin. She was wearing a black leather jacket with a dark navy shirt and black jeans. But, what would startle most wastelanders would be her lack of weaponry and yellow eyes without pupils. A strange beast with reptilian features crept up behind her, walking on two legs. It resembles a small Tyrannosaurus Rex with an almost dog-like snout. The beast had two horns on top of its head that curved downward and then back up in an almost devilish way. It had elongated fingers and claws. The beast had eight spines along its back, the third one from its neck being at least two feet tall. She turned to the beast, staring it in it's dandelion yellow eyes, and smirked. The beast stared into hers, its pupils reducing in size as it stared at the woman. She walked off the dune, heading away from the store with the animal following closely behind.

The horizon glew orange and red from the close to setting sun. Karl sat in the store, with his hands cupping his face, in a little plastic chair that Mutt had found a while back. The smell of burnt plastic, lubricant, and steel choked out any sources of fresh air. The armor had stopped burning about three hours ago. Karl uncupped his hands from his face and folded them into a ball on his lap as he gazed out the back window of the store at ,apparently, the only shrub for the next mile. "I have to do something" thought Karl "I can't just let innocent people die by those lunatic's hands." Karl stood up from the chair and walked into the back room where Mutt kept plenty of supplies.

Karl opened the door. The room was square-shaped. Karl saw a plethora of items, stacked and scattered on metal racks, a few on a metal table in the middle of the room. Karl glanced about the room. He quickly spotted what he needed. A small wooden crate with black spray paint that stated "Desert Gear" on the front and lid of the crate, hidden in the corner between two of the racks. He walked up to it and pushed one of the racks out of the way so he could pull the crate out into the aisle that Mutt had left for movement. He lifted it onto the table. Karl looked over the lid of the crate to see four screws, used to hold the lid in position, were in the four corners.

Karl looked around himself to find a crowbar. He soon found one on the top of one of the racks. He pulled it down and thrust it underneath the lid. He pushed down the crowbar, forcing the lid open. He stopped after the screws were popped completely loose from the box. Karl slid the lid off the box. It hit the floor with a thud. Karl tipped the crate sideways, spilling its contents onto the table. He kicked the lid out of the way of his feet and stepped over to the newly revealed items. They consisted of a gray facemask, a sand colored poncho, and an orange Camelbak. But what struck Karl the most was gold colored ionized snowboard goggles. The goggles had the name "Chris" inscribed into the the bottom right corner of it. "What in Hell's goodness?" thought Karl. Karl didn't think much of it afterwards and slapped them on top of his forehead. He just assumed the goggles belonged to some long dead wastelander. The area they were in, though a desert, oddly snowed periodically. Karl took off his trenchcoat, folded it up, and stuffed into the pack. He put the poncho on. It almost touched the floor. Karl shuffled around in it, trying to find a comfortable way to wear to the itchy, wool poncho. He finally got tired of attempting to fit comfortably into it, and threw it off, snatching his trenchcoat out of his bag, and throwing it on instead.

Karl walked out of the storeroom, yanking the laser pistol off the counter and holstering to his side. He stepped behind the counter, slinging the backpack onto the ground. He grabbed fistfuls of grey or green oval-shaped objects with a glowing red ring entrenched horizontally through it, throwing them into his pack. These were laser cells, essentially laser ammo. Karl plucked an ammo belt off of its rack and dawned the leather belt, putting more laser cells into the sockets. He swiftly slung the pack onto his back. He trotted out the backdoor of the store.

The sun was still high in the sky. A wispy cloud here and there. Karl climbed up one of the dunes behind the store and stared out over the horizon. He grabbed the goggles a top and put them over his eyes. The blue sky turned a greenish color. The clouds, instead of looking like white puffs, turned into a dusty, shapeless form. He glanced down at his boots before stepping off into the great unknown of the sands. "I have to get to Port City." thought Karl.

The trek was long. Karl was out in the desert for easily four days. He ran out of water about two or three hours ago. He was on the verge of slipping into heat stroke induced unconsciousness. He was tripping over himself, trying to get somewhere. He looked over towards the dune in front of him. He saw an african woman approaching him. He smiled at her, but that was before he saw a hulking beast of a reptile appear from behind the dune she walked over. He dropped his smile into a look of terror before he passed out.

**Chapter 5: Oasis of Deathclaws**

Karl started to awaken. He didn't open his eyes, but, he smelled something. It smelled...delicious. Eggs. It had to of been. But, where was it coming? He slowly opened eyes. Karl stared up at the ceiling. Or at least what he thought was ceiling. He looked to his right to see the woman from before glaring down at a dish a top of some kind of grill. He thought she didn't notice him before she asked in a British accent "Care for an omelet or two?" her gaze into the dish before her unbreaking. Karl replied shyly, "Yeah." Some time passed before the woman handed him a plate and utensils to eat with, like she said, an omelet. Karl scarfed it down almost immediately. He didn't realize just how hungry he was until the omelet disappeared in a matter of a minute. "If you want another just ask. I've got plenty!" as she pointed to the corner. The corner wasn't even such. It was a kind of pocket carved into…..the rock wall? But what aghast Karl the most was what kind of eggs they were. The eggs were two and half feet tall and a foot and a half in diameter. They had protrusions on the top of the egg that looked like stubby horns. Karl muttered to himself "Deathclaw eggs." Karl realized quietly he was in a cave. No, not a cave. An overhang. He looked out the entrance to see not one, not two, but at least three dozen Deathclaws. The overhang was part of an apparent meteor landing site. A large pond, easily the size of a baseball field, had a near-spherical rock in the middle.

A Deathclaw stood on top of it, overlooking the other Deathclaws. It was the color of blood. The Deathclaw apparently noticed Karl's staring and leaped off the rock, closing the distance between them by at least half. As soon as the Deathclaw landed, it got on all fours and charged at the overhang Karl and the woman were under. He crawled backwards, hoping the Deathclaw was too big to fit under the overhang. The woman was oblivious to the imminent danger they faced. The Deathclaw released itself from the charge and ran on two legs. The Deathclaw ran into the overhang, completely ignoring the woman, and used one of its hands to pin Karl against the ground. "HEY! HEY! THROW ME A WEAPON! PLEASE, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD!" plead Karl. The woman turned to look at the Deathclaw, and the Deathclaw did the same for the woman. "Please stop scaring the guest!" asked the woman to the Deathclaw.

The Deathclaw released Karl from the ground. "You're lucky, human!" said the Deathclaw. "Wait, wait, wait, what! You can talk!?" asked Karl in complete shock and horror. "Indeed, human, you may call me Durnehviir." said the Deathclaw in a hoarse voice. Karl now gazed upon Durnehviir. He was an Alpha Deathclaw, that was clear. His horns, instead of curving, went forward and then shot upwards at an eighty-five degree angle. But, something was off about his horns. His left horn was broken, leaving a stub for a gruesome horn. And the left side of his face was branded with the letter E. Durnehviir's left eye was a milky white color. Durnehviir apparently noticed the curious stare and decided to ignore it. Durnehviir walked up to Karl and knelt down to meet him. "If you would've entered this oasis alone, I would've ripped the flesh from your bones and turned your meat into child feed!" said Durnehviir with a snarl "You're lucky that Rhonda dragged you here and not one of the lone Savages."

"Rhonda? Is that your name?" Karl asked as he looked to the woman who now was looking at him. "Yes" replied Rhonda shyly as she flipped her raven black hair in an attempt to hide her face. Karl looked back at Durnehviir. "So, what's with that E on the side of your face?"

"It is a cursed gift from my former….employers."

"What employers?"

"I was captured by a group of dark armor-clad humans calling themselves "The Enclave." They branded me, gave me the ability to speak and be as intelligent as you humans, and attempted to turn me into one of their pets. I resisted with every ounce of my wildness. I eventually escaped with a few other Deathclaws to this very oasis!"

Suddenly, loud snapping and snarls are heard. Durnehviir turned around and walked out and looked to his left. He got on all fours and charged off somewhere. Karl stood up and ran out from under the overhang. He saw two other Deathclaws apparently quarreling over something. One was on top of the other, about to stab the other with its deadly claws. Durnehviir charged over and tackled the one standing over the other, throwing them both like nothing thirty or so feet from the downed Deathclaw. The downed Deathclaw stood up. It was holding something. Karl couldn't tell what before it ran, leaving Durnehviir to attack and lecture the other. Suddenly, Rhonda spouted "So, you thirsty...uhh…" Karl realized Rhonda didn't know his name, and so he said it. "Karl! You..uhh.. thirsty?"

"Indeed," said Karl with enthusiasm. Rhonda walked back to a little pack on the ground next to her grill. Karl scanned around himself. There was no water spicket in sight. Rhonda walked back to him with two cups, handing him one. Karl asked suspiciously "So, how are we supposed to get water around here?" Rhonda looked at him, leaned her head over and said "Isn't it obvious?" as she pointed to the pond in the middle of the crater.

**Chapter 6: A Wading Pool**

A look of terror crossed Karl's face. Rhonda asked jokingly "What is it? Afraid of a little water?" Karl stared her dead in the eye and said "I'm not afraid of the water, I'm afraid of what's wading around in it!" as he pointed to the Deathclaws. "Don't be such a scaredy-cat! They won't hurt you as long as you're with me!" replied Rhonda. Rhonda started to walk out to the pond, out from under the overhang where Karl knew, or at least thought he knew, he was safe from the reptilian beasts that crawled around out there. Rhonda turned around to face the unmoving Karl, who stared at the meteor in the middle of the pond, mortified by the sight of dozens of Deathclaws, and said "C'mon! I'm NOT getting your water for you, ya know!"

Karl shook his head and finally ran to fall in behind Rhonda. Karl cowered behind Rhonda, hoping the Deathclaws wouldn't notice him. But, alas, it was already too late for that. All the Deathclaws stared at him with curiosity and suspicion. They reached the water's edge, only to find more Deathclaws wading around in it. Then, Karl noticed something as he stepped into the water. The males of the group appeared to be guarding the pond while the females bathed. Then, he saw something so rare, few lived to tell the tale. "Baby Deathclaws…" Karl quietly muttered to himself in awe at the rare sight. Suddenly, a child turned to spy on Karl, and then, as quickly as the first started, every one of them was either staring at him or trying to get closer, apparently inquisitive of the new human in their presence.

Then, Karl felt a rubbing sensation against his left leg. He looked down to see a baby Deathclaw. But, it was different than most he had ever heard of or seen in his life. Its scales were blacker than pitch. But, most curiously, it had GLOWING blue highlights. Rhonda suddenly spouted "That's Kuldosah. His mother was injured by minutemen when they stepped to close to a settlement. She ran away, with him in tow and arrived here. I tried to heal her from her wounds. Sadly though, she succumbed to them. Kuldosah has been here ever since." as she stooped down to pet him. He rubbed his cheek into her hand and then slid it down, almost like giant, scaly, domesticated cat. Rhonda looked up at Karl and asked "So, you gonna get a drink?" Karl stared at her and blinked saying 'Oh, uhh….Yeah! Yeah!" as he stooped down and scooped up some water. He began to drink. It tasted so crisp, cool, and refreshing despite the bathing beasts and hot, sandy desert. Then, as Karl finished the drink of water, he heard a snorting sound from behind him. He turned around to be surprised by Durnehviir's sudden appearance.

Durnehviir snorted as if in disgust about something. "Rhonda, Karl, follow me." said Durnehviir. Karl shook his head in amazement. "How did he know my name?" thought Karl. He started to walk away as Karl and Rhonda stared at each other. They soon followed suit and caught up with Durnehviir. He started to hike up a slope that lead out of the crater. Karl now gawked at the amount of trees that grew around this crater. The trees were mainly Desert Willows, their thin branches and tiny leaves scattered the shade beneath them. Karl looked up and saw Durnehviir standing at the top of hill. He climbed faster to reach him, with Rhonda following closely behind him. Karl and Rhonda reached the top to meet Durnehviir. He looked them both in the eyes and said "I need you both to gather supplies for you two." "Wait, what?" asked Rhonda in surprise. Durnehviir responded "You two are going to need more supplies than we do. Us Deathclaws can handle ourselves for now. Go to the Port City. Bring back whatever you need." "Will do, Durnehviir!" said Rhonda. "Oh, and if you need to bring larger supplies back to the oasis, just send your ride back to fetch us." "What ride?" asked Karl. Durnehviir pointed to his left. Karl looked over to see a Deathclaw wearing a two-person saddle. It also had an enormous storage unit on the very back of the saddle.

Karl blinked. Rhonda started to walk toward it. She looked back at Durnehviir and asked "Is everything already packed?" Durnehviir nodded and spoke "With every of, what you humans call fruit and vegetables, that you need alongside some weaponry." Karl was curious. Rhonda opened the chest and pulled out a knife. Karl walked closer to examine the knife. He got within three feet of Rhonda. The handle of the knife seemed normal. It was made out of Carbon Steel. But, the knife itself is what intrigued Karl the most. It wasn't made out of metal. It appeared to be bone. The section of bone that was attached to the handle had a bulbous growth. After the growth however, it grew into a sleek crescent shape, with smaller wart-like growths near the bottom of the shape. Karl realized that the knife was made out of a Deathclaw talon. "Whoa…" Karl sputtered off.

Durnehviir turned to look down at him and grunted "That claw belonged to one of my dearest of my brothers. Finvolkaal. He seeked war against the humans after our capture by the Enclave. He failed. He was killed in an attack on the Port City." "Oh, I've heard of the Deathclaw Mass Attack on the Port City. They killed a single black Deathclaw leading the charge and suddenly every other one retreated." "Indeed. And now, you will be entering the very place that we dreaded for so long." Karl trotted over to the Deathclaw wearing the saddle. He looked inside the chest and found the laser pistol that he had arrived with. He pulled it out, examined it, fished out the holster that was also inside the chest, and equipped them both. He looked to the saddle to see that Rhonda was already in the front seat, so Karl had to settle for the backseat. They both waved goodbye to Durnehviir and the other Deathclaws that had appeared behind him as they crawled over the summit of the hill.

**Chapter 7: In Defense of the Port City**

The legendary Port City. A city the size of a large town built on top of an oil rig and out of scrap metal from ships still docked there. The bridge used to cross the water to get to the city is a rickety one, built only from two by fours and rope of various kinds. The courtyard also serves as a town square. The town square contains several shops and a few houses. The urban sector contains most of the housing for the people of Port City. Despite its reputation for being one of the most friendliest places in the wasteland, segregation still occurs. Mutants have to live in the so-called Ghetto, a subsector of the urban sector. Despite this though, everyone unites to fight a common enemy, the Mirelurks.

Every possible noise produced by war is heard. Screams, clashes, gunshots. Every. Possible. Noise. An Asian boy, barely seventeen, wearing army fatigues and a white bandana on his forehead with a single red circle in the middle, running over rooftops over to a downed man while crab like creatures surround them. The man looks up at him and says "Oh, thank heaven you're alive, Lee!" "Sergeant Major! We haven't much time! We need to get these Mirelurks under control!" Lee looks over his shoulder to see a crab-like being scuttle up behind them and was about to swing until Lee unsheathed a greatsword and cut off one of it's gruesome claws, forcing the thing to fall backwards and tumble off the edge of the balcony.

More and more started to climb onto the balcony, attacking Lee and the sergeant. The sergeant finally regained his senses, pulled out a PDW that had no stock, but, had an extended mag, firing unrelentlessly upon the Mirelurks. Lee cried out to the Sergeant "AIM FOR THE LIMBS! AIM FOR THE LIMBS! NOT THE HEAD!" as he cut a Mirelurk's claws off. "I'M TRYING, LEE!" Lee heard a loud clang. He turned to see a Mirelurk Hunter, which looked like an oversized lobster, was about to swing it's ugly claw down on Lee when, suddenly, a bullet grazed the claw, startling the Hunter. The hunter turned its nasty head to see a little girl, no older than twelve, held a Vintorez Nine by Thirty Nine. She pulled the trigger one more time, blasting off the Hunter's cap. The Hunter's lifeless body fell into a heap on the floor.

"Thank's Hana!" said Lee to the little girl. "IT'S HANAZUKI!" belted out the little girl. She wore a pure black tank top and unattached skirt that had a fluffy white inside. She, oddly though, wore no shoes. Her hair was jet black, the same as the clothes on her back, but the inside section of where her hair fell off her scalp, was a pristine white. She turned to a greenhouse on her left and ran back to it and inside exclaiming "NO! DON'T EAT MY PLANTS!" Lee chuckled. Sergeant snapped at Lee "THIS IS NO TIME FOR GAMES, LEE!"

A high pitched screech is heard coming from the ocean behind the city. Another man, some distance from Lee, screamed out "QUEEN!" Everyone fell into a panic. They killed anything near them to see the Queen rise from ocean. It rose to its full height, having to look down upon the pests that dared attack it's children and itself. It moved one huge leg of it's six to step on top of the building it stood in front of. "FIRE!" yelled everyone. Everyone fired upon the gigantic lobster like beast. It flinched with every shot fired into it. Then, out of nowhere, a roar is heard behind the soldiers. Someone boomed "DEATHCLAW!" The Deathclaw leapt up and over the crowd, slashing at the Queen. Some of the soldiers turned around began firing upon the Deathclaw.

"Stop shooting at Aarfahlaas!" Lee turned around to see an African woman wearing a blue work shirt, red undershirt, and blue jeans running into the courtyard, being shortly followed by a tanned man wearing a dirty black Superman t-shirt with a jacket tied around his waist, apparently out of breath. "Jeez, you run fast, ya know that!" Those who didn't turn around to greet the two strangers saw an amazing spectacle. The Deathclaw had managed to burrow far enough into the Mirelurk Queen that it was able to reach its heart and rip it out. The Mirelurk Queen and it's heart both tumbled down into the ocean as the Deathclaw scampered off the corpse and crawled up the side of the building. The Deathclaw, now bloody with bullet wounds and claw marks, stared at the humans as they raised their guns to meet the gaze of the Deathclaw. "Aarfahlaas! Return!" The Deathclaw crawled back to the woman and the man. Lee noticed that the Deathclaw acted similar to a cat when in the presence of the woman. He also now noticed that the Deathclaw was wearing a saddle. "How?" Lee thought, almost muttering the phrase.

"Hey, uhh…..My name is Karl and this is Rhonda. And that is our TAMED Deathclaw!" stated the man. Rhonda was about to say something when Karl stopped her, whispered something into her ear, and she nodded hesitantly. Rhonda stepped forward and asked "May we buy some things?" Everyone giggled and laughed, one belching out "NO! WE NEED TO REPAIR!" Rhonda looked down with embarrassment. "Well then, maybe we can stay the night?" asked Karl. Someone began to chuckle until a little girl walked up to them. "My name's Hanazuki!" she thrust out a hand to shake "And yes.." she glared at the crowd, the crowd recoiling from her stare "You may! Stay in my house right over there!" She pointed to the greenhouse behind her. Karl asked "Are you serious?" as she was walking away. Hanazuki's head spun back around to glare at him in such anger that even Karl's sarcastically happy mood had to back down. Karl put his hands up in a halfway surrender position. But, one thing that he noticed was the pristine white in Hanazuki's hair, bracelets, and underskirt all tinged into red and immediately went back to that pristine white. "Whoa! What was that?" though Karl as he was taken aback by this sorcery. Rhonda walked past Karl, glaring at him, and continued to walk alongside Hanazuki. Karl shortly followed them into the greenhouse. Karl saw a cornucopia of fruits and vegetables.

Their was Mutfruit, an eggplant looking fruit, Tatos, which appears to be a combination between a potato and a tomato, and Korn, which looked simply like burnt corn. In the greenhouse, were also growing these mysterious plants that Karl had NEVER seen before in his life. They were multicolored saplings in pots. A few had broken their pots. Their colors varied by tree. But one that really caught Karl's attention was a red colored sapling. It appeared to be a small pine tree with red colored wood, it's leaves being a dark green. He looked over to see Rhonda and Hanazuki chatting on the far side in a sort of kitchen area, so he trodded over to examine it more closely. He crouched down and moved forward so that he was under the tree's canopy. He rubbed the spiny leaves of the pine. Unwittingly, his right index finger was pricked by one of the pine needles. Karl's eyes dilated immensely in reaction. Karl crawled out from under the tree, grabbing his fingertip to try and attempt to stop the incredibly profuse bleeding.

It took no less than a second for Karl to feel pure anger and hatred course through every one his senses. His peripheral vision was swiftly imbued with a red color. He smelled fire and smoke as they infiltrated his nostrils. He tasted blood as it dripped onto his tongue. His joints felt burnt as he flexed them, getting used to his new senses. His ears rung with the deafening sounds of demonic screaming. Karl saw Hanazuki and Rhonda standing at the one end of the greenhouse. Rhonda looked like a tall, lanky creature with two scythe shaped protrusions coming out of her upper back. Hanazuki appeared the same size as before, but now had multiple, two inch tall curved horns in the shape of a crown on her head.

He now saw them as distorted threats that both needed to be stopped before they could enact whatever dastardly plans they had. He sprinted at them ready to strangle them both. Karl covered the distance of twenty feet in less than two seconds. He got within five feet of the little girl before he felt a blunt object hit him in the side of the jaw. He fit the floor with an audible thud. He looked up to see Rhonda holding a frying pan in her hands. Karl exclaimed weakly "Wha-" before blacking out.

**Chapter 8: The Moon Garden**

Karl awoke to a bumpy start. It was night, he could tell. He tried to stretch out and felt resistance. He looked down to see that his feet were bound together with hemp rope. He felt that his hands, behind his back, were bound together as well. He gathered his surroundings to his right to see that he was inside of some kind of carriage Rhonda asleep on a straw patch. "Psst..Rhonda!" whispered Karl. Rhonda did not respond. She quietly snored, seemingly ignoring Karl in her deep slumber. He scooted over to Rhonda. He finally scooted close enough to touch her. He reached out, but noticed a lean that he could not control. He fell onto Rhonda's body. Rhonda shot up, throwing Karl onto his back, grabbing her Deathclaw knife from its holster and pressing the sharp edge against his throat, making him gulp.

"Oh, you're finally awake!" exclaimed Rhonda with evident relief in her voice. She released the knife from Karl's neck and cut his bonds. "So, what was I tied up for?" asked Karl after flexing wrist. "Well, after you attacked us-" "Wait, when did I attack…" Karl trailed "All I remember is touching that weird tree." "Exactly, now let me continue. We had you tied up due to Hanazuki's fear that you would awaken and attack us again. Hanazuki had to go out and gather more supplies, so….we….uhh...brought you along!" said Rhonda. 'How long was I asleep?" "Two days." replied Rhonda. "What did that tree do!?" snapped Karl. "Well, Hanazuki says that the multicolored trees that she grows are hallucinogenic in nature, susceptibility depends on the person."

As if on queue, Hanazuki appeared from behind a blue curtain in the apparent front of the carriage. "So, I heard you were awake. I should of told you that the trees were dangerous to you humans." Hanazuki says as she shyly looks down and away. "Yeah, you should've...wait what? Humans? What do you mean?" "Well…" Hanazuki trailed off. She grabbed a section of her jet black hair and pulled it up. The pristine white dye in her hair did not come with. The pristine white dye was actually some sort of feather like growth attached in front of and above the ears, behind the temples. "My bracelets and underskirt are also these same feathers. They grow with age." Hanazuki said still shyly looking away, now rubbing her forefoot against the ground. Rhonda and Karl were shocked and went silent at the shocking revelation.

Rhonda broke the silence by asking "So what exactly are you then, Hanazuki?" "I am what many would call a nymph. But actually, my race is a subspecies of nymph called Moonflowers." As Hanazuki stated that, the pristine white daisy on top of her head lightly wiggled. She reached up and tapped it, making it lightly sway. Karl shook his head and asked "How many of your kind are there out there exactly?" Hanazuki shied away, turning around in process. She began to glow a true blue color, even the flower, illuminating the carriage. "Not many. Most were devastated by the ravages that your war brought, the very war that nearly annihilated the human race. And almost all of them reside at the very place we are headed." "And where exactly is that?" asked Rhonda. "The Moon Garden." explained Hanazuki "One of the last of our sanctuaries that still stand." Karl stood up and walked out of the carriage through the blue curtain and looked out. Aarfahlaas, the Deathclaw, was pulling the wagon. He saw no sanctuary, let alone a garden. Only desert was seen through the expanse of his vision. Hanazuki poked her head out, her flower dangling down in front of her face. "We won't reach it for another two days. So I would relax for now."

The two days that Hanazuki promised have passed. The group has almost reached the summit of a mountain. It had a kind of chill that requires a jacket to ward off. Karl had to zip up his jacket for the first time in ages. The trenchcoat now bore the same symbol that was on his shirt. Karl had asked her what her other hobbies were, besides growing hallucinogenic trees, with her reply being "Sewing." Karl immediately took up the chance and asked her to sew a red Superman symbol onto the back of his jacket. She complied, making quick work of a very complicated task. Karl lifted the jacket up to the gleaming sun and felt pride course through him. He tried to give her money, but she refused, stating "For a friend." She glowed yellow, shying away from Karl, at the statement, clearly embarrassed.

The wagon summited the mountain. The group stood out front of the wagon and gazed upon a strange sight. The mountain range contained a bowl shaped valley. The valley was lush in life. Green grass, healthy trees and plants. Karl immediately noticed at least a dozen fully grown red colored pine trees. But there were several trees of multiple colors. Hanazuki charged past Karl and Rhonda down the mountain and into the valley. She was glowing hot pink. Karl and Rhonda looked at each other. Karl shrugged and begun to chase her down. Rhonda shortly followed. When Karl had reached about three quarters of the way down, with Rhonda half way down, Hanazuki stopped dead and spun around, screaming "WAIT!" It was already to late, Karl had slipped and started to descend into the valley. Karl saw a very pale force field surrounding the valley's bottom. He slammed into the field at full force. An electric shock coursed through his body, causing him to scream and wail in agony. He was shot back into the valley's wall. "Aagh...ugh...Oh, that hurt!" Karl sat up and shook his head. Rhonda slid down and helped him out. "What gives Hanazuki!" "I am so sorry!" Hanazuki responded, she started to glow blue "I got so enthusiastic and carried away that I forgot to let you in."

"Well, let us in then!" snapped Karl. This made Hanazuki begin to tear up. Karl realized what he had done. "Oh, I…. I'm sorry, Hanazuki! I didn't mean to make you cry." Hanazuki sniffled "It's ok.." "No it's not. What can I do for you to repay you?" Hanazuki rubbed her nose with her arm. The blue glow started to fade. She pressed her hand against the force field. "Help me take care of the garden for the time that we are here." Hanazuki sniffled out one last time. The force field faded away from her hand. Soon, an archway grew away from Hanazuki's hand. Rhonda went through first, tailed by Karl, who held his left shoulder with his right hand. Rhonda said to Karl "I'm gonna go explore, alright?" Karl nodded. Rhonda walked off to her right into the forest.

Hanazuki walked up to the edge of the forest and knelt down. Karl walked up behind her and looked over her shoulder. She was picking some kind of fern that resembled feathers. The feathers had blue tips with a middle section of orange. The bottom of the feather was white. Hanazuki stood up with a handful of the ferns. "You were hit hard, Karl. These are medical herbs. They'll help you heal." said Hanazuki as she walked further into the grove. Karl brought up the rear. They walked until Hanazuki brought him to the center of the forest. It was a clearing. In the middle of the clearing a fountain stood. It was made out of marble, most of which was obscured by moss and vine. Eight benches, made out of marble as well, made the the corners of an octagon surrounding the fountain. Most curiously, a ring of twenty four flowers surrounded the fountain. Every flower was different except for one feature. All of the flowers were the same pristine white color of Hanazuki's growths. Most of the flowers were droopy. Five flowers stood as straight as they could. The five flowers consisted of a rose, a spurge, a borage, a lotus, and a daisy.

Hanazuki sat down on the bench closest to their position. Karl followed suit. "Eat them." said Hanazuki, holding them out to him. Karl grabbed a single feather from her and examined it. Reluctantly, He chewed off the blue tip of the feather. It tasted extremely sour and bitter. It made his tongue go numb. But, he powered through and ate the rest of the feather. He instantly felt better. Hanazuki handed him more of the feathers despite his refusal. Karl swore to himself "My tongue is gonna fall off at this rate!" Hanazuki was glowing hot pink again. Karl looked over to the fountain and saw that the daisy was also glowing the same color as her. But, one of the other flowers was glowing as well. It was the lotus now glowing a bright red. Unexpectedly, a battle cry boomed from above and behind Karl. Karl had just enough time to glance at the attacker before he made his move to roll off the bench. The attacker was apparently the same race as Hanazuki. A sword's tip slammed into the very spot where Karl was sitting, chipping the stone bench. Karl instinctively unholstered his laser pistol.

"Kiazuki! Wait! Just..ahh..Hold on!" yelled Hanazuki at the attacker. Kiazuki turned to grant a death stare at Hanazuki. Kiazuki was slightly taller than Hanazuki. Kiazuki had an olive complexion to her skin. She wore a tank top dress that barely hid the length of the growths underneath the skirt despite it being below knee height, implying that Kiazuki was way older than Hanazuki. She wore a kind of soot raccoon mask and knee high fur boots. Kiazuki yanked the sword out from its sheath of the bench. "Zikoro! Sic 'em!" shouted as Kiazuki behind her. Out of nowhere, a small dog charged out from the forest. It had a completely black coat of fur, chubby body, and stubby legs. But, the key feature that made it stand out was Zikoro's enormous, rabbit like ears. Karl had no time to aim before Zikoro had a hold of his left calf. Despite his teeth appearing rounded, they had somehow pierced the skin, drawing blood. Karl fired off several shots before finally grazing the dog, making it's already dark fur even darker. The dog released, whimpered loudly, and proceeded to run off back into the forest.

"Zikoro! Get back here! UGH! Guess I'll just have to do it myself!" stated Kiazuki. "Kiazuki! Just stop and listen!" said Hanazuki. Kiazuki thrust a hand out to stop Hanazuki from coming any closer. Karl looked over to see Kiazuki running at him, sword gripped in both of her hands. Karl aimed the pistol one handedly at Kiazuki. She immediately slashed at the pistol, cutting it in half, making the cell loaded inside explode. The explosion burnt Karl's hand, making him grip his wrist. Hanazuki started to glow lime green. Kiazuki drew the sword up into the air, and came down on Karl.

Just when Karl thought he was done for, a miracle occured. Rhonda had dashed out of the forest, using her knife to block the sword from landing the killing blow. Rhonda gritted through her teeth "GO!" However, Rhonda was quickly disarmed by Kiazuki, who then kicked down Rhonda, knocking Rhonda onto Karl, preventing his escape. Kiazuki lifted the sword into the air, point down, to finish both with a single piercing motion. Kiazuki's sword began its descent into the guts of Rhonda and Karl. That was until Hanazuki hopped in front and stated "These are our friends, Kiazuki! Please, don't hurt them!" Kiazuki's sword was under an inch from Hanazuki's forehead. Kiazuki was breathing heavily, making her body shake. She started to glow blue, making the Lotus in the ring around the fountain glow blue as well. She started to tear up and cry. Kiazuki fell into an embrace around Hanazuki. Hanazuki started to glow blue as well.

**Chapter 9: Games with Emotion**

Several days have passed since the group's encounter with Kiazuki. Karl was fully recovered from his injuries. Aarfahlaas was allowed to enter the sanctuary as long as he didn't destroy anything. Aarfahlaas roamed around the forest, finally settling underneath a grove of seagreen colored trees that Hanazuki described as a Mellow Treasure Tree. Its bark was the seagreen color. It's leaves, however, were a dark green color. Vines grew from the branches of the tree. Rhonda, out of curiosity, picking one of what Hanazuki called "Mellow-Melons" from the tree. Karl sarcastically laughed "Never seen watermelons grow on trees!" Hanazuki and Karl started to giggle before busting out laughing, making Hanazuki glow orange. Rhonda tossed the melon in air, catching it, and taking a bite out of it. She immediately dropped the melon, eyes growing wide while a green juice dripped down onto her chin. "Whoa….That feels...so soothing!" Rhonda fell onto her back while humming a tune.

Karl and Hanazuki walked over to Rhonda. They both stood over Rhonda and looked into her eyes. They had changed from yellow to the same seagreen color of the tree. "Whoa…" exclaimed Rhonda. What Rhonda was feeling was most sensational trip anyone could ever have. Her peripheral vision was swiftly imbued by a seagreen color. She smelled incense invade her nose. The taste of s'mores smothered her tongue. She heard the ocean waves crashing against a rocky shore, even though there wasn't a beach for hundreds of miles. She felt like her body was submerged in salt water. Not drowning her, no. She just felt like she was leisurely strolling the ocean floor without a care in the world.

Karl was left standing there as Hanazuki walked away from them, staring into Rhonda's now seagreen eyes. "So, whatcha feeling?" "Like the mellowest marshmallow in the land." Rhonda giggled. "Alright, let's get you a seat by the fountain." Karl grunted as he tried to lift Rhonda onto her feet. She turned herself into dead weight, making movement of her body without her consent next to impossible. He moved to her legs, and had an idea. Karl grabbed her ankles. He proceeded to drag her to the fountain area. He lifted her body, with all his strength, up onto one of the benches. Karl sat down next to the bench, leaning his body up against it. Soon afterwards, he heard Rhonda snoring quietly. Karl smirked and decided to get some shut eye as well.

Karl was shook awake by Rhonda. "Cmon cmon! Wake up!" "Hmm..Wha..What!" I'm up, I'm up!" Karl looked around frantically until he gazed upon a slingshot about a foot from his face, aimed at his face. It was loaded with what appeared be a yellow colored apple. It was suddenly launched from the rubber band and the apple made a SPLAT sound against his face. Some of its juices got into his mouth. He felt the same hallucinogens from the red pine tree, but they felt happy, not like the dangerous anger that the red pine gave him. Almost instantly, Karl's peripheral vision was the color gold. His nostrils were stocked full of the pleasant smells of a backyard barbecue. His tongue was covered in the taste of apple juice. He heard children's laughter come from all around him. He felt the sunshine heat up every inch of his skin, even the skin underneath his clothes. "Have a Happle!" laughed out Rhonda.

Karl looked upon her and immediately noticed that her eyes were back to their normal pupil less yellow color. He closed his eyes and tilted back. Rhonda was about to say something when Karl interrupted by asking "Wait, wait. Don't tell me. Hanazuki put you up to this." "Why, yes, indeed I was!" replied Rhonda. "The reason why is because of some game that the Moonflowers play that involves shooting each with the Yellow Treasure Tree Fruit." "Happles." said Rhonda. Suddenly, Kiazuki ran by, launching a Happle at Rhonda, missing her. Karl now noticed the braided ponytail that Kiazuki had. Some of her growths were woven into the braid. Rhonda held her hand to help Karl up. Karl took it and stood. Rhonda pulled a slingshot out from the back pocket of her jeans and handed it to Karl. The slingshot was made of oak wood, not any of the treasure wood. The band was actually made of a large rubber band.

The day ended with night as Hanazuki, Rhonda, Karl, and Kiazuki sat on logs, next to a campfire on the outskirts of the forest. Kiazuki and Hanazuki both had started to glow seagreen a while ago. This meant that they both had mellowed out. Kiazuki had passed out a while ago, with in position that made her legs be on top of the log as she laid out from it, and Hanazuki was two seconds away from falling asleep. Rhonda was eating s'mores while Karl remained quiet. Soon, both heard Hanazuki's snoring through her nose, which made it sound like a whistle. Rhonda leaned closer to Karl and whispered "I'm gonna go check on Aarfahlaas, alright?" Karl quickly responded with "I'll come with you." Both stood and walked away from the fire.

They walked to Aarfahlaas's nesting ground, which was underneath a Mellow-Melon Tree, where he decided to rest. He wasn't there. Or anywhere in the immediate vicinity. Rhonda looked around and saw Deathclaw tracks, which resembled small Tyrannosaurus Rex tracks, heading away from the nest. She whispered "Look!" and pointed them out. Karl whispered to her "Well, what are you waiting for? Let's follow them!" as he started walking alongside the tracks, being careful not to disturb them. They passed through several of the groves before reaching a cave entrance. Karl put his hand against the rock wall as he stepped and peered inside. He thought he saw multiple sphere shaped glow sticks aligned together in the distance. He and Rhonda almost gasped as the spheres moved in unison with one another, worming its way from the looming shadows as they slithered deeper into the cave.

Karl began to step further into the cave, which the cave floor was covered in sand, when Rhonda warned "You have no weapons, and I'm pretty sure Hanazuki would've said something about this place." Karl replied "So what? I've got a Deathclaw!" as he continued to walk inside. He left Rhonda standing there on the outside of the cave, her yellow eyes gleaming in the dark. Before Karl rounded the corner, Rhonda yelled "NOT YET YOU DON'T!" But he actually had a weapon. He had kept the slingshot from earlier. Karl squatted down, grabbing some pebbles off the ground and put them into his pockets. Trekking farther and farther into the cave. As the cave started to turn lightless, he realized he had forgotten a flashlight. He was about to turn round when one of the glow worms wiggled by, moving at an incredible speed for an enormous inch worm. He followed it around another corner to a surprisingly illuminated cave.

He found crystals of all shapes, sizes, and colors. The crystals were actually some kind of freaky light source. He cracked a small bright red crystal off the floor by kicking with the side of his foot. He leaned, picked it up, and put it in his pocket. He roamed around, looking at all these gems until he stepped down onto a weird squishy rope. He lifted his foot off of it as the green vine slithered away. "Ugh….Creepy" said Karl out loud. That was when he noticed it. He looked up from his feet to see a skeleton entangled in vines lying against a cut out. Karl ran over to it to see the skeleton belonged to your average wastelander. It wore a satchel almost filled to the brim with the glowing stones. Attached to the belt of the skeleton was a Pipe Pistol modified into a miniature Thompson along with three tiny drum magazines. Karl looted the satchel and weaponry and slung them around him.

He began to examine the gun and see if it was still operable when the sound of a falling rock off to his right interrupted him. It was tunnel that led into another section of the cavern. The tunnel was unlit by the various gems within the two caves. Karl squinted and leaned forward slightly, as he made out of shapes of gems as they protruded into view as shadowy prisms. Karl began to move toward the tunnel. That's when he saw a snake like shape slither off one of the prisms. Karl held back a gasp and put on a serious look as he lifted the Pipe SMG into an aiming stance. Karl stood there motionless for at least a dozen seconds before lowering the gun. He slowly turned around to escape the creepiness of the situation before a vine whipped out of the darkness and wrapped around his ankle, before tossing him up in the air and dragging him into and through the tunnel. The Pipe SMG was thrown from his hands. Karl was being dragged on his stomach over the mysterious sandy ground to who knows where. This little journey continued on for a minute and a half. He was released as his momentum carried him into another room,from what he tell, was easily the size of a small house. A bright teal light glowed all around him.

He stood, wiping the sand off his clothes, facing away from the voice now emanating from behind him. "So...You're the latest intruder! I do not know how you managed to get so far with me noticing, but, nevertheless, I have captured you and your little pet!" "Pet? You mean the Deathclaw?" "Is that what the ugly brute of a reptile is called!" Karl expected to turn around to see another Moonflower or a Mutant with botanical powers. What he did not expect was an actual flower. "CHEESE WHIZ! WHAT ARE YOU!" said Karl in horror. He'd heard of Harold the Tree from travelers and merchants who had managed to get to the Mojave from the Capital, but nothing like this. The flower was huge, easily fifteen feet tall. It had magenta petals that appeared crystalline. The petal's upper section folded over to looked like a enormous set of lips. The petals moved just like a mouth as the flower once again spoke "You will die down here, just as my spirit. I haven't bloomed since my inception. But, I bring mercy! Bring me the most beautiful crystal and I will let you leave!" said the flower in an over exaggerated voice. An audible snap and growl is heard as Aarfahlaas charges into the room, being chased by vines. The vines stop attacking the instant Aarfahlaas enters the room. Aarfahlaas turns to snap at the vines one last time. The vines retreat either in fear of the massive scaly beast that could rip them from their roots or because they were told to.

Karl looks at Aarfahlaas. The Deathclaw stood there, unmoving as it's gaze unrelentlessly beat upon the flower. "Who are you?" asked Karl. "I am Depriva! The most elegant flower in this prison made of gems and rock! And these" said Depriva, as vine lifted off the ground to point out a glowing worm slithering against the rock wall "Are my servants! Now be good servants and bring me crystals!" Aarfahlaas, unbreaking it's gaze, got on all fours and snarled in a low pitch. "Exactly what he said. You have no intention of letting us leave do you?" asked Karl. "Of course I do! Just do what I said and I'll let you leave!" said Depriva in a clearly stressed voice that sounded like she knew that the jig was up. "Yeah, no, I'm leaving with Aarfahlaas." said Karl as he turned to walk away.

As he did so, vines covered in thorns sprang up and made a criss-cross shape across the exit. "Ah, so you wanna do this the hard way" said Karl, turning back around, unsheathing the slingshot. Karl snatched one of the pebbles from his pocket and loaded it. He pulled the band back as far as it could go and aimed down when Depriva used one of her thorny vines to smack it out of his hands, slashing against his fingers and hand. Karl grimaced at his lashed hands as Aarfahlaas charged the deranged flower. More of the thorny vines were summoned from the ground as they tied Aarfahlaas down, wrapping him like a burrito, muzzling him in the process. Karl was about to run when even more of the thorny vines sprouted and began to attack him as well. "You know, this all could have been avoided if you just did what I said!" scolded Depriva.

Karl now had scratches all up and down his arms and legs. Blood dripped and smeared from his wounds as he attempted to avoid many more. Sweat beaded down his forehead as he concentrated on not getting killed by a giant flower. Finally, one of the vines wrapped around his right ankle. He was flown into the air as the vine held him upside down in front of Depriva. The glowing red crystal that Karl picked up earlier fell from its pocket. Karl swung to grab it. The crystal narrowly escaped his fingers as it dropped to the ground. Depriva swiftly snagged out of the air just before it hit the ground. Depriva somehow examined it despite her lack of eyes. "A brilliant and bright red color, perfect size for an amulet…" Depriva raved on and on about this crystal, picking out it's flaws and imperfections, it's cleavage and luster, leaving Karl in a trance that just about put him asleep. Just about.

The crunching sound of sand brought Karl back from the brink. He leaned his head so he could see behind him, despite being hung upside down. The headache brought on by his blood rushing to his brain made the image distort. Three figures were sprinting towards the entrance to the room. The two smaller ones were leading the charge as one wielded a heart shaped shield, the other, a sword. Karl forced his vision to focus and saw the two weapon wielders as Hanazuki, as the shield, and Kiazuki, as the sword. "DEPRIVA! LET THEM GO! NOW!" screamed Hanazuki as she began to glow red with anger. "YEAH! WHAT SHE SAID!" Kiazuki yelled as she glowed purple. "Oh! These two? But, they intruded upon your-" Depriva was cut off by Hanazuki stating "You know that if anybody comes into the cave through the front that they are friends! Now let them go! Or else!"

Depriva frowned and slowly put Karl back on the floor. Aarfahlaas was released from his vine cage. Aarfahlaas stood in an imposing stance, growling and firing off a single snap of his jaws. Aarfahlaas stomped his way over to Rhonda, who stood at the foot of the entrance, and granting her a lick on the face, smothering Rhonda in saliva and bad breath. Karl, bleeding from many points on exposed skin. Karl walked up to Rhonda and sighed out "You were right, I should've went and got help." Rhonda smiled and pulled out the same blue and orange feathers from days ago. Karl would of died of laughter if he wasn't about to die of blood loss. He snagged a single feather and munched on it and Rhonda supporting him on her shoulder, essentially dragging him out of the cave.

Kiazuki shortly followed, looking back only once to see Hanazuki still talking to Depriva. After Kiazuki turned the corner, Hanazuki turned around as the heart shield dematerialized. She hunched over, appearing to sulk. "Awww! Someone's jealous! Someone's jeal-" Depriva was cut off by Hanazuki angrily stating "NO I'M NOT!" She glowed red. But something was off. Her bracelets began to glow an emerald green color. "Your biology says differently." "It's just that…..Ugh, I'll explain later, ok?" Hanazuki sulked out of the cave and headed towards the fountain.

Karl stretched out across one of the bench as he munched on one of the feathers. Rhonda was sitting on the ground leaned up against one of the legs of the bench, Occasionally handing him a feather. Karl gazed upon the pale shield distorting the blue sky above. Until it wasn't blue. It was a sudden change that Karl thought he had hallucinated the change in color. Then it happened again. And again. He poked Rhonda, which she responded by attempting to hand him another feather. Karl pushed the feather away and said 'No, look…." Rhonda flipped her hair from her face and looked up at the shield. "Yeah, it's the shield. Haven't you ever…" She stopped dead in her tracks when she noticed the strange occurrence. The occurrence was a pulsing red wave washing over the shield. Kiazuki noticed this and materialized her sword and dashed off towards the origin.

Karl got up and tried to stand. He grunted as he fell to the ground. Rhonda helped him up as he regained his ability to walk. They both took a slow journey over to Kiazuki who had already made her way over to shield and was arguing with someone. Karl couldn't make out who it is at first. As they got closer, the voice sounded more and more familiar. Karl realised as the person came into clear view just who the person was. "No, It couldn't be." though Karl. He saw him die in front of his very eyes. The person standing there was, lone and behold, Mutt.

**Chapter 10: Relocation Event**

He had changed his usual outfit into a black tuxedo with a red tie and a white mask that revealed only his eyes and the top of his nose. A large green camo hiking pack was strapped to his torso.


End file.
